Welcome!

The Charles Williams Society exists to promote the study and appreciation of the life and writings of Charles Walter Stansby Williams, a poet, novelist, and lay theologian.

Charles Williams is probably best known, to those who have heard of him, as a leading member (albeit for a short time) of the Oxford literary group, the "Inklings", whose chief figures were C. S.Lewis and J. R. R Tolkien. He was, however, a figure of enormous interest in his own right: a prolific author of plays, fantasy novels (strikingly different in kind from those of his friends), poetry, theology, biography and criticism.

For too long, Williams’s work has been out of print or only available in budget-level paperbacks. We’re rectifying this with high-quality, hardbound editions of his work, something suitable for collections and gifts.

They have been designed and printed with care: The Williams Library editions are hardbound, with cloth covers and foil stamping and debossing on the covers. Inside, you’ll find modern typography in the best bookmaking tradition. Printed in pure black with bright spot colors, on pure white paper. They’re sized right in the sweet spot: easy in the hand but a respectable presence on the bookshelf. We’ve included generous margins for a comfortable reading experience, and room for exclamations, scribbles and arguments.

I’m really pleased with these: they are the printings of Williams that I always wanted to exist, that I wanted to give to others. And now they’re real!

A quick update! Our Extraordinary General Meeting was held last week – June 16, 2016 – and the attendees unanimously passed the necessary resolutions for the winding up of the society. More details are forthcoming, and we’ll post them here.

As you know we are in the process of winding up the Charles Williams Society in its present form and have been in conversation with the Oxford C S Lewis Society with a view to transferring our assets to them in the near future. This society is deemed to be the one most capable of maintaining the aims and purposes of the original foundation of our own society.

The C S Lewis Society already publishes The Journal of Inklings Studies – which you have been receiving – and will continue to promote the work of Charles Williams. It will take responsibility for the reference collection and the maintenance of Charles Williams’s grave in Holywell Cemetery.

The website of our society will continue to be managed by Matt Kirkland. The name of the new website has still to be decided but it will, as heretofore, be devoted to the memory and work of Charles Williams.

As we are a charity we are obliged to conform to the laws governing charitable bodies as well as abiding by the rules of our own constitution. This means that we are required to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting for the passing of two resolutions.

1. To alter Rule 12 of the Constitution and Rules of the Society by replacing the words ‘to any charity or charitable institution with similar objects as the Society’ with the words ‘to the University of Oxford Development Trust Fund to be used for the purpose of the Oxford University C S Lewis Society’.

2. To wind up the Society in accordance with Rule 12 (as amended) of its constitution and Rules.

From Sørina Higgins’ Oddest Inkling blog, this announcement: a few Inklings bloggers will be staging a chat on twitter on March 15, at 8pm US Eastern time. Here’s the writeup:

Many members of the Inklings–C. S. Lewis, Warnie Lewis, Hugo Dyson, J. R. R. Tolkien, Neville Coghill, and others–were wont to go on very long walks through the countryside, days and days at a time, staying at inns, eating and drinking at pubs, talking endlessly about theology, literature, and whatever else took their fancy.

On March 15th, at 8:00 pm EST, the ghosts of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and Hugo Dyson are going to come out of their graves, grab smartphones, go for a long walk in an imagined landscape, and tweet all about what they see, say, and do.You should join us!

Five intrepid bloggers will be tweeting quotes and paraphrases from the Inklings’ works, along with a little creative license, as they go “walking” together and talking about their favorite topics. Do join us on the Ides of March!

Sørina did a solo version of this over Christmas, and it was hilarious.

This interdisciplinary arts conference invites presentations on topics relating to and stimulated by the work of the group of Oxford authors known as The Inklings—including C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, and J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as friends such as Dorothy L. Sayers, and their literary mentors, earlier writers such as George MacDonald and G.K. Chesterton.

We invite presentations on such topics as…

·The Inklings authors’ contributions to the arts·Translating their work into other media–film, theatre, music, visual art; the relationship between faith and story·The relationship between faith and story·The Inklings’ legacy as culture critics·The role of friendship and mentorship in their/our/others’ artistic creativity·and other topics related to the theme

Keynote speaker

·Dr. Michael Ward
Senior Research Fellow at Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford
Author of Planet Narnia (Oxford University Press, 2008).

This conference welcomes submissions from any discipline that explore the topic under consideration. Proposal deadline is May 15, 2016. For more conference information visit twu.ca/vergeconference

You might have seen Charles Williams featured on the most recent episodes of iTV’s show ‘Lewis’!

If you’re just hearing about Charles Williams for the first time, or just looking to find out more about this strange author – welcome! Wiliams’ novels – often called ‘Supernatural Thrillers’ are great places to start with his work.

Poet Geoffrey Hill recently used Williams’ work as a framework for his final lecture as Professor of Poetry on 5th May 2015. It was entitled “I know thee not, old man, fall to thy prayers” and you can listen to it here.

2.15 p.m. We are delighted that the visiting American scholar, Sorina Higgins, who has recently edited and published Charles Williams’s early dramatic piece, The Chapel of the Thorn, is able to be with us and will give a talk about her work on Williams.

Agenda

Apologies for absence

Minutes of the last AGM

Secretary’s report

Treasurer’s report

Librarian’s report

Chairman’s report

(Election of Officers)

A O B

Posted in Events, News|Comments Off on Annual General Meeting 2015 and Lecture